This is Nick Werts saying g’day from Sydney!

I am approaching the end of my adventure in this wonderful city. There is so much to do that I have been running non-stop so I can soak up as much of it as I can before we head to Brisbane. Having little downtime to sit around has been an adventure in itself. I can remember the lazy days before the trip sitting and listening to the radio or watching television. Speaking of TV and radio, the one thing I don’t miss are all of the commercials.

I had the great opportunity to visit the Australian Broadcast Corporation and one of Australia’s biggest radio stations, Triple J. After wandering through some of the ABC’s huge studios (the largest on this side of the world) I got to see the insides of Australian television and news.

Did I mention that all of these TV channels are free? The government of Australia completely funds their media and they keep a tight hold on advertisements. This is about the opposite of the US. It was so strange to think about how huge media corporations are not in the business commercially. The whole experience was eye-opening, and it got even better when we went up a couple floors to Triple J.

Triple J is Australia’s alternative radio station that has a huge reputation for pushing the boundaries with its programs. Walking into their office is like stepping into any music fanatic’s paradise with the walls covered in autographed posters and their huge library of music.

Even though we have been learning about how much Australian media is carefully controlled to protect children and promote education this radio station pushes the boundary that makes anything coming from American radio sound tame.

The best part of the trip was that one of the morning DJs, Lindsay aka The Doctor, recorded us for his radio show! So if any of you happen to be listening to Triple J and here a bunch of college students yelling, that would be us.

I might just have to tune in myself.

--Nick Werts